All I wanted was a stroker

[charonblk07]

When I was planning my stroker on the '07 with josh at HHP he said that up to a 392 you could use the stock injcctors with a pump upgrade, but I had a complete 6.1L manifold installed then; again that may have been after we decided to just do a 370 before the supercharger. Check with Arrington and see what they say for the stroker.

 

[bionicredneck]

Still waiting on word back from Arrington. Hopefully I'll hear something tomorrow. New AEM AFR gauge on the way and should be here mid next week. Also going to check the compression on the cylinders to see where I'm at this weekend. Any suggestions on where I should put the O2 sensor for the AFR?

 

[Redtruck-VA]

I just installed the same gauge and really like it. I used the Aeroforce analog input before to read AFR and this now free's up the Aeroforce for other inputs. I installed the sensor in the driver side collector ****.

 

[bionicredneck]

So I tried a compression tester and I'm on average 160psi per cylinder. There wasn't a difference of more than 10psi between cylinders. This was all while using the starter to turn the motor over. When I turned the motor over by hand, the compression gauge never came up at all. I did notice that the pushrods that the machine shop installed are not the same size on the exhaust as what Comp Cams recommends for the 268 cam. The size pushrod recommended for the exhaust is 7.850 and my engine builder put Manley 7.825 which is the replacement stock size. Is this enough to throw the motor off to where it won't run like it should? I plan on calling Comp Cams and the machine shop on Monday and asking the same. Also I am going to go ahead and take all of the accessories off and prep to check the timing on this thing. I know that I need to upgrade the chain tensioner from what everyone is saying. What timing chain would be a good replacement?

 

[MegaMouseGW]

Depending on the lifters used the shorter pushrods might be what is needed. You will need that information before contacting the cam manufacturer.

 

[bionicredneck]

Ok so I talked to Comp Cams and they said the problem that I am having is called "Cold Start Fueling" and the engine wasn't getting enough fuel on start up and it was probably caused by the tune. I called Arrington and asked them and they said that the tune should be good and that I should check my injectors and then told me that I should just try to keep the engine running as long as possible. I changed the IAT sensor, checked the injectors (they were all clean) and then started the truck. I didn't have the intake tube on when I started it and had pulled the vacuum line that goes to the brake booster out of the way to get the fuel rails out. The truck started and actually idled on its own going bouncing from 900-400RPM. When I plugged the vacuum line back in though, the truck ran like before and I would have to feather the throttle to keep it running. Take the vacuum line off and it idles on its own. What the heck is going on???

 

[03MopaRamman]

Those rods are fine! After she is up and running If she Ticks get the longer ones. With out checking my notes I would say those are 6.1 length rods. I run the longer ones as stated above with my Crazy Spartan on the exhaust side to remove tick and as recommended by inertia. Stu wrote an awesome thread about pushrod length requirements for our Motors based on the base circle. He even talks about the requirements depending on how much the heads get milled. Not allowed to post a link here as I will get Costappoed however there is a sticky thread under Inertia on said site where the LX Car Guys Go.

On my 2nd LX 5.7 motor with spartan cam and milled Inertia heads It's running 6.1 rods both Intake and exhaust sides.

 

[CKH]

Have you pulled the timing cover yet to check the timing set and make sure it isn't a tooth off?

 

[03MopaRamman]

Unfortunately this is something you would need to confirm if you doubt the precision of the assy work that was done. Coming up on TDC at #1 and the cam gear stopping at 12 O'clock the mark on the crank below should precisely point to the Pentastar Stamp on the Oil Pump which is your 2 o.clock. I used a BBQ wood skewer to check the TDC point up/down once when I had to be sure of this when I did one of my 5 cam swaps. What saved me was documented photos from previous work, hence the Pentastar trick!

 

[bionicredneck]

Didn't check the timing once I had done a compression test and came up with an average of 170psi on cylinder compression. I thought that if the timing was off, the compression would be way down?

 

[CKH]

Any updates on your build?

 

[bionicredneck]

Sorry, it's been a busy week. i reaccomplished the compression check and had 0 psi on #7 cylinder. I pulled all of the spark plugs and the 2 for #7 were clean as a whistle and all other were black. I bought a borescope and checked the piston and cylinder on #7 and as far as I could tell, everything looked good. I did a leak down test on the cylinder and all of the air was coming out of the intake. I took off the valve cover and one of the guys from my machine shop came out to help me take a look at it and while he turned it over, I noticed the intake valve spring wasn't compressing. Unfortunately, we couldn't tell much more without the head coming off, but we figured that either a lifter took a crap or the intake valve seat is jacked up. Anyway, the guy from the machine shop called his boss and they sent a flatbed to pick up the whole truck yesterday morning and bring it to their shop where they could dig into it. Hopefully I hear something in the next day or so.

 

[charonblk07]

Before you pull the entire head, I'd pull the intake rocker arm and check the pushrod. Two quick things to look for is if the rod is bent or (this is quite common) the rod in an oil gallery. Hopefully it's not a valve seal or guide.

 

[CKH]

Out of curiosity, what heads are you using?

 

[bionicredneck]

The machine shop has the truck now and are working on the motor. @CKH I am running my stock heads with a mild port job.

 

[KGBIGCOUNTRY]

Im with charonblk07 they should have checked the rod being seated correctly before jumping the gun. How many Hemi's has this machine shop your using done? These motors are simple to do but getting in a rush will bite you in the ass. Did yall not install new lifters? Any new motor esp when its a stroker should get new ones, semi cheap insurance.

 

[bionicredneck]

Nope, no new lifters but they did check the rocker arm and sure enough the pushrod wasn't seated in the lifter (I have no idea how that happens and hopefully someone can explain it to me). They said that the pushrod was not bent and I went to the shop today and put everything back together and for the first time since mid-October I got to hear my baby run again. Thanks to everyone on this post that has helped me out along the way. I'll try to get some pics and maybe even a video up once I get the truck back home and get it squared away and cleaned up.

 

[charonblk07]

The intake lifter are a real PITA to install. The exhaust rods drop down into the rocker arm, but the intake rods want to drop out of the rocker arm socket, so while you're installing the intake rocker arm assembly you have to continuously check that the rod hasn't dropped out. Exhaust rockers take me about 5 min to torque everything into place, the intake normally takes me 20 min doing it properly.

Now, if the rod wasn't seated in the lifter it was either in an oil gallery hole or it was sitting on the lip of the lifter. If it was sitting on thelifter lip then the rod should be bent or the rocker assembly would have cracked.

Glad to hear it's finally up and running again.

 

[bionicredneck]

Ahhhhhh now that I understand. Thanks charonblk07!!

 

[CKH]

Glad to hear it wasn't anything major. Any plans for a dyno test? I'm interested to see what kind of power it is making.